If you are having trouble paying your mortgage, you know that there is no easy way out.
other debts that will give you so much trouble, stress, and worry. After all, you can live without cable TV, your nice new Toyota, and go back to driving your old Chevy. You can also live without credit cards, your morning latte, and trips to the spa, but you can't live without a roof over your head. Even though it's best to avoid mortgage arrears, if they do happen, you'll need to deal with them quickly and decisively.
Since the lending industry has grown so quickly, there are many different kinds of lenders who hold a mortgage at the moment. Each lender handles late payments in a different way. Some of the less trustworthy ones will just wait until they can sell the papers to a foreclosure agent. The trustworthy ones will gladly work with the borrower to see what can be done to help him or her get the mortgage arrears caught up and current. Call your lender and ask what they can do for you to find out which group they are in.
If your lender is willing to work with you, you may be able to pay only the interest for a couple of months until you get back on your feet. On the other hand, you might be able to get your mortgage loan extended by the number of payments you're behind on. If your lender isn't willing to work with you, you'll have to find other ways to make money so you can pay off your mortgage arrears. In the short term, this might mean not paying other bills so you can pay your mortgage first, but in the long term, you might need to find another job or even a second job. Most lenders, though, are very willing to work with borrowers. There are special departments in many banks that deal with this issue. After all, they will get paid more in the long run if they work to help you.
A big mistake that has hurt a lot of borrowers is the idea that filing for bankruptcy will help you get out of debt and keep your home. It's not like that. Even if you are up to date on your payments, you may still have to give the bankruptcy trustee your home's equity. In the same way, if you are behind on your loan payments or have liens on your property from people you haven't paid, you will probably have to deal with a foreclosure sale. So, filing for bankruptcy in order to catch up on mortgage payments is not a good idea.
If you can, you should take care of mortgage arrears as soon as possible to keep them from getting worse. Keep in touch with your lender and be willing to consider solutions, even if they don't seem good at the time.
